


Summer Lovin' (With a Side of Debauchery)

by loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Beach, Because of Reasons, Lifeguards, M/M, Mutual Pining, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro Idolising, Summer Romance, The Author Regrets Nothing, even though i know next to nothing about surfing, everyone acts like irresponsible college kidz, i only wrote this to write keith as a surfer, summer luuuuurv, they all live and breathe for surfing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 01:57:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15595692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS/pseuds/loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS
Summary: Hot surfers, wild parties, and the best friends Keith could ever ask for? Oh yeah. This will definitely be the summer to beat.aka the gang works at a beach resort for the summer, and Keith falls for a super sexy surfer with a tragic past





	Summer Lovin' (With a Side of Debauchery)

**Author's Note:**

> i am by no means a surfer so don’t expect any accuracy or anything to make sense…
> 
> also just caught up to the series and realised sheith gripped my heart and won't let go TT_TT

“Let’s go, guys. We’re gonna be late!”

Keith rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he stumble hopped to shove his legs through the holes of his standard issue red swim trunk uniform while simultaneously pulling on his white tank. His movements were uncoordinated and sleep laden, but one look at the clock had him hurrying anew. It wasn’t a long walk to the beach, but Ezor, despite her bubbly, chill attitude, valued punctuality and came down hard on people who fucked that up. After all, her favourite phrase seemed to be “If you’re late, someone will drown and die, and they’ll sue you!”

He glanced over at the vacant bed on the other side of the room, unsurprised to find it in the same state of disarray Lance had left it the night before. So clearly, Lance hadn’t returned from that party he’d gone to with some locals they’d met at a bar the night before. Keith shrugged, slipping on his sand encrusted flip flops and deciding he ultimately didn’t care. What Lance got up to on their off days was his business, but that hangover during work was going to be a bitch.

An impatient knock rapped on the door, and Pidge’s voice filled the space again, sounding decidedly less patient and much more threatening.

“I’m fucking going to leave you both. If you make me late, I’m never waking you up again.”

He knew it was an empty threat though; they’d done this dance over and over again and each time, she couldn’t help but relent because she felt sorry for them.

Nonetheless, Keith grabbed his lanyard and sunglasses and rushed out the door as he pulled the cord holding his ID and key cards over his bed head. Pidge gave him an unimpressed once over, hands on her hips, before shifting her stance and starting on a brisk walk to head out of their suite and the employee dormitory. She looked like she’d gotten a full night of rest though, with a clean, ironed cami and exercise shorts, amber gaze bright and expressive, and hair freshly washed and settling into its natural fluffy, soft waves.

“You look like hell,” she remarked nonchalantly as she tied her hair into a loose bun on her head.

“I feel like hell…” Having drinks the night before an early day was a bad idea, and Keith knew it, but who was he to deny getting free drinks from some hot townies, especially since he was only 20 and couldn’t buy his own. “Where’s Hunk?”

“He woke up early to move the inventory shipments into storage. I would have gone with him, but he said he had to run personal errands.”

“So… Shay?” Keith rose a playful brow.

Pidge cracked a lopsided, knowing grin. “Shay.”

She closed their suite door and checked to make sure it was locked. Keith matched her pace (which wasn’t too hard considering she wasn’t the tallest girl) and together they rushed along the halls to get to their morning post. They weren’t the only employees hurrying to get to work on time. Several people from restaurant crew who Keith had seen at the bar the night before were also rushing in various states of disarray as they headed out, desperately trying to tug on vests and cummerbunds and neckties. Keith was lucky his lifeguard uniform was just the red swim trunks and a clean top. Pidge only needed to wear clean tops and bottoms of her choice, and was required to wear the issued Altea Resort apron for her shifts, but even that she kept in the Tiki Cabana, so her morning routine was pretty limited.

 “Where’s Lance?” Pidge glanced behind her, looking confused at the distinct lack of their hyperactive friend bounding down the hallway to join them.

“Don’t know.” Keith slipped on his shades and ran a hand through his semi-tangled mop of crusty black hair as they exited the employee dormitory and light flooded his vision. There were dried sand clumps and salt crystals from the ocean stuck in his hair and belatedly, he realised he hadn’t washed his hair in a couple days. He almost instantly could feel the sun broiling his skin. Today was going to be another long, hot, exhausting day… “He left with some girls at the bar. But I came back to surf. Went to bed at 4 and he still wasn’t back yet.”

“ _Jesus_.” Pidge shook her head and shoved a bottle of sunscreen, a banana, and a bottle of water in Keith’s hands. He put the water in the pocket of his trunks. “You two are a disaster. Whose bright idea was it to put you in the same room?”

Keith gave her a weird look as he peeled down his banana just enough so he could eat without having to worry about moving the peel. “Um, yours? You and Hunk wanted to share the other room because neither of you wanted to room with Lance.”

With good reason. Lance was one of his closest friends, but damn the guy was high maintenance _as fuck_. The top of the dresser they were supposed to share was littered completely with all of his moisturisers and creams and shampoos and then all of his creams and things for shaving. He had certain products he only used for some days of the week, and others he used for the other days. It seemed excessive, but Lance insisted that he required all of them to maintain his “perfect caramel skin”.

Pidge snorted. “Heh. Oh yeah.”

In any case, they were lucky to have gotten one of the 24 suite rooms in the dormitory. They came equipped with a small kitchen, non-communal bathroom and mini living room, while the rest got doubles that resembled a general hotel room more. Everyone wanted those suites, but with over 200 employees, only a limited number could get them. It was a lottery point system based on seniority—as in who had been working the longest—and somehow, their group had managed to rack up enough points to get one of the last few rooms.

Pidge wasn’t wrong though. Between him and Lance, neither could ever wake up on time for the life of them, and both frequently ended up forgetting tons of important staff shit, but thankfully, Hunk and Pidge were right in the other room and made sure they were up at least with five minutes to spare. He was forever grateful that her rotations on morning crew were the same as his.

As Keith lathered sunscreen on his body, they filled their walk to the beach front with easy conversation about dumb customers Pidge had had the day before or people who’d tried to flirt with them and other weird gossip they’d caught from other resort workers. Apparently, there was some big announcement regarding something having to do with the resort, and they were all to report to the main hall after closing that evening.

They were among the last few stragglers by the time they got to the line of beach crew workers standing shoulder to shoulder near the main lifeguard shack. But they definitely got to their post before Ezor finished her trek over to the group and blew her whistle three times for their attention.

Hunk leaned forward and gave them a triumphant smile from his position that they returned with thumbs up before everyone quieted and turned their attention to their head manager.

“Wake yourselves up, guys! Today there’s some show in the hotel, so don’t expect too many people on the beach in the morning, but that doesn’t mean you get lazy. Be alert, do your job, and stay focused. There’ll be plenty of customers when lunch comes around. Stay hydrated; be prepared.” Ezor readjusted her shades atop her head before continuing. There was a faded outline of the beginnings of a sunglasses tan around her eyes and on the bridge of her nose. She must have dyed her hair red the night before because Keith didn’t remember her braids being that bright. “As you all have probably heard by now, we’ll be having a full staff meeting at the main ballroom tonight at 11:30.”

There were grumbles of annoyance and looks of incredulity passed between many of the beach crew members regarding the time of the meeting, but Ezor ignored them and continued on.

“Alfor will not be in attendance, but his daughter will be, so I expect you all there on time, dressed for success, and _smiling_. I know it’s summer and I know there are tons of fun parties you want to go to, or people you want to hook up with, or just going to sleep early, but tonight I need you all to stay on the resort and _stay_ _sober._ I want you to stay off your phones and give her your undivided attention. And for God’s sake, please be on time. That is NOT a request.”

She flipped over a paper on her clipboard and started rattling off the usual information that they heard every morning: time tables, what numbers she wanted to see, selling their beach services, accommodating guests, being approachable but professional in the face of flirtatious guests who wanted to live out their sleeping with a hot lifeguard fantasies, and more stuff Keith couldn’t be bothered to focus on anymore. Once upon a time, he was an active listener, but he’d since learned that daily tasks tended to repeat at Altea.

Ezor was loud and energetic enough that most people kept their attention on her, but that didn’t stop Keith from tuning her out and going into a daze, put out by how strong the sun was at 8:00 in the morning. The breeze was nice though, and he took a discreet happy whiff of the salty air, taking in the seagulls barking in the distance, the pillow-soft white sand like warm grain beneath his feet. The best part though was the ocean, crystalline blue and shimmering in the early morning sunlight, and Keith felt that familiar pull whenever he viewed the water, wishing he could put on his gear, grab his board, and catch more waves.

Later. Definitely.

Working any job dealing with people in the summer was shit, but he couldn’t deny that he’d gotten the luck of the draw being able to be at Altea Resort where he could surf to his heart’s content. (Especially considering his day job during school was at a movie theatre). Run by a fantastic businessman named Alfor, it was an incredibly famous and well-liked popular resort with all kinds of attractions, fantastic entertainment, and activities for guests. The beaches of Altea were among some of the best in Cali and the environment was one of healing and relaxation. It was no surprise to Keith that they pretty much tended to be booked solid once the summer kicked off. So much so that recently, they’d been talking about renovations to expand the resort.

But the best part of this resort was the fact that it was so close to a beach town where most all the younger employees went to party. A bunch of college kids all congregating in one town for the summer made for some pretty wild nights full of debauchery with the locals. Keith wasn’t a huge partier, nor was it his scene, but he didn’t mind being dragged out there by Lance, if only to watch him and Hunk go absolutely fucking nuts.

Keith was fairly new to the beach crew—he’d been in restaurant crew the year prior—but he’d made pretty good friends with most of them by now and had quickly grown attached to the chill, but goofy group. Lead by Ezor and Rolo who generally handled night crew, they had a pretty awesome group. They were less worn out than the ones who worked in the dining and restaurants indoors, less high-strung than the hotel crew who handled room service, and definitely less pompous than the spa/sauna workers, who were nearly just as pampered as the guests themselves.

As Ezor finished up the last bit of her updates, Keith caught a familiar tanned, lanky figure out of his peripheral vision sneaking across the sand behind their lineup to take a place at the end near Pidge. Lance was still in his personal blue trunks from last night though his uniform was bunched up in his hand. Keith was guessing he’d had only a few seconds to grab the necessities from their room before booking it. He was red faced and out of breath and fighting to keep his breathing low so Ezor didn’t notice him sneaking up.

“Does everyone understand!” Ezor flipped through another page on her clipboard once she got affirmation and started going through her roster check, rattling out names at high speed while everyone barked out an indication of their presence as quickly as they could to keep up.

The smirk that grew on Keith’s lips could only be defined as shit-eating when she got to McClain. Just as Lance was a few steps from joining the line and looked prepared to respond, Keith opened his mouth and said:

“Late and trying to sneak to the end of the line.”

Ezor and everyone else all turned to Lance, frozen in place, in an awkward half-step as it dawned on him that Keith had totally just ratted him out.

His finger immediately went up in a rude gesture while Keith snickered to himself. “Suck a dick, Keith!”

Before they could start bickering, Ezor cleared her throat in aggravation as she pushed her sunglasses back up from where they’d slipped off the front of her bangs.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you absolutely, positively _cannot_ be late as a lifeguard?!” Ezor said emphatically, waving the clipboard at Lance in choppy motions. “If you’re late, someone will drown and die, and they’ll sue you!”

Lance relaxed his hands behind his head and rolled his eyes to the sky. “You say that all the time, Ezor. But how the hell can a dead person sue someone?”

Her answering grin was feral. “One week of clean-up duty with night crew for being late, Lance.”

“Aww c’mon! It was a joke!” he griped, sulking at his fate.

Pidge rose her hand. “Ezor, he’s also not wearing standard uniform!”

Ezor’s sharp gaze dropped to the oceanic trousers with the dolphins and she tsked semi-playfully. “A clear violation of rules. Lance, you’ve got detention on your off day.”

Detention just meant he’d be working from 6 to 9 in the morning doing prep work anywhere in the resort on the next day they weren’t scheduled. He’d have the rest of the day off, but it was still funny to see Lance’s appalled look. Nights before off days they usually went out and partied hard until super late and having to wake up early would seriously wreck that plan.

In revenge, Lance reached over and snapped one strap of Pidge’s bathing suit top with a finger, letting it smack against her skin which formed a mark that lightened that reddened area of her skin. She tended to tan easily, and Keith wondered if she was partly sunburned already. Either way, Lance’s desired action worked, and she yelped in pain. Ezor groaned and rolled her eyes as Pidge scooped sand from the ground and hopped up on his back, gripping the back of his hair as she tried to shove her sand filled fist into his mouth. He spun around in circles, moving his face away to try to avoid getting a mouthful of sand and get her off, but she clung to him like a leech.

By this point no one was really paying attention and most had started to chat with one another again, others watching in amusement as Lance sputtered out sand that Pidge did succeed in getting in his mouth. Sensing the meeting was being forcibly brought to a close, Ezor quickly finished off the rest of the roster and then flipped her papers back over the clipboard.

“Alright, dismissed. I’m posting the weekly schedule on the lifeguard tower. Head to your posts and set up! If you’re still in orientation training, follow me.” A small handful of newbie guys and girls broke formation and trailed after Ezor. Many others began to disperse to their designated regions, like monitoring the beach chairs and cushions, renting the equipment and vehicles, to the beach side restaurants, ice cream shops, gift shops, and shops for supplies and clothing. As Ezor passed Keith, she clapped his shoulder briefly. “Oh, yeah, and Keith? Don’t forget you have the surfing class at 1, Zone II. Jenny will handle check-in and equipment distribution. Just don’t be late, yeah?”

“Yes ma’am.”

He didn’t miss the playful stank eye Lance gave him. Three weeks in, and the idiot was still salty about Keith getting hired for one of the six coveted surf instructor positions that recently became vacant. Keith hadn’t known about the prestige of the job for the beach crew, but apparently, the supplementary position paid a lot more than usual and came with tons of perks. And best of all, hella _personal_ tips. No communal tip pool to share with other members.

(Which was why he’d never actually tell anyone _how_ he got the job. Or that he had no real qualifications whatsoever. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them).

Hunk headed over to the three of them as he guzzled water from a huge bottle. “Do you guys want to grab a late dinner together before the meeting tonight?”

“What meeting?” Lance asked, readjusting his hold so his forearms were supporting Pidge’s thighs.

“Staff meeting at 11:30 tonight. _Allura_ will be there~” Pidge responded, waggling her eyebrows with the name and jabbing Lance in the cheek. “You should make your move.”

“Don’t give him false hope and set him up for failure, Pidge. We don’t need Lance to feel like any more of a loser…” Keith slipped in, finishing applying sunblock on his arms just in time for Lance to swing around and try to roundhouse kick him. Pidge hadn’t anchored herself properly and went flying off his back, kicking up sand that settled on her clothes and in her hair when she hit the ground.

It didn’t take long for her to chase him with threats of bodily harm while shouting expletives.

Hunk chuckled, clearly amused by his friends’ antics. “For someone who drank that much last night, he’s pretty energetic.”

Keith snorted, offering the sunscreen to Hunk who turned it down with a shake of his head. “Pretty sure that means he didn’t get laid though.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. I’m gonna go start prep with Sara so when the rush comes, we’re ready.” From what Keith had heard about the unprepared lunch rush days ago, he didn’t blame Hunk. It must have been hard being a chef at the small beach side restaurant (especially since the actual head chef was usually hungover and barely came to work) but on the plus side, he was getting paid a lot. Hunk began heading off towards the Tiki Cabana to start opening preparations for the next hour or so. “Come stop by for lunch, Keith! I’ll save you some chicken pesto.”

“This is why everyone loves you, Hunk,” Keith called back. It was usually Wednesday’s special, an extremely popular dish, and out by mid-afternoon, but Hunk always saved portions for his friends.

Hunk laughed and waved as Keith also turned around to head to Zone IV for his lifeguard shift. There were a few early guests on the beach, heading to their preferred zones to settle in a spot before security finally allowed them in the water for the day.  The beach was open all day, but 9 to 9 was the only time guests were allowed in the actual ocean of the resort because that was the only time lifeguards were shifted.

When he got to his tower, he climbed up, cranked open his umbrella, readjusted the rule board against the back of his chair tower and prepared himself for another long day.

 

…

 

Lifeguarding itself was a pretty easy job. His only task was to sit in his chair, blow his whistle when people horsed around too much, and occasionally clean up around his area to ensure that people didn’t step on something sharp or dangerous and injure themselves.

The main beach was divided into several zones with about two to three lifeguards for each. Aside from Zone IX which was in an area with the large pier and Zone X with all the rock landmarks through the water leading to the private beach where the high paying guests rented beach houses, the rest was just basic, typical beach. He was at Zone IV, closer to the boogie and surf board rental shacks than places to dine. Zones I – IV were the most active due to the great waves and other water activities the areas provided. Zones V – XIII were closer to eateries and souvenir shops, so people tended to migrate there when the night grew a bit colder and their fun was winding down for the day.

It was a fairly easygoing shift that day, with less patrons then normal, something that was expected considering there had been that event indoors, but around the time Carrie came to relieve him for his lunch break, the beach had started filling up fast. As promised, Hunk left him a nice portion of his incredible pasta and Keith spent his break in the back kitchen of the Tiki Cabana, chowing down and chatting about certain customers with Hunk while Pidge and the other waitress, Sara, rushed around to serve diners dishes, drinks, and whatever else they requested. Following lunch was another short lethargic guard session, only this time he’d gotten a chance to blow his whistle when two guys started bringing out the beer. His zone was not alcohol friendly and when he’d pointed out zones V-VIII as liquor tolerant, they’d gotten a little sharp with him. Keith was prepared to fight if need be—he certainly had the background to back up his threats—and they must have seen something in his glare because they packed up their shit and left, grumbling all the while.

All in all, he considered it a very successful day even if he was only assigned to teach beginner’s surfing classes and that day’s had been one for kids. As if it wasn’t already bad enough that he had to deal with kids (and Lance nearby on his own lifeguard chair laughing his ass off), some of the moms were a little too forward, touching his shoulders or abdomen with flirtatious grins while their gremlin kids screamed and ran around and wouldn’t settle down. It took about five minutes before Keith was finally able to get everyone in line and a little longer before he’d finally scared the kids enough with his stern face to get them to actually shut up and listen.

Altogether, the lesson wasn’t difficult though. He was used to teaching senior citizens and older men and women and sometimes teens, but his methods worked the same way, only he doled out more praise than usual to make the kiddies feel accomplished. He taught the basics, showed them proper positioning on the board in the sand, how to pop up and showed them the importance of why placement of their bodies will make or break their surfing. He finished off the lesson with a short demonstration to get them motivated for their next lesson and finally called it a day around 3.

By the time Keith was done and had talked to all the parents about everything important they needed to buy, know, and sign, Lance had long finished his shift, Pidge had hung up her apron for the end of her shift, and Tiki Cabana’s night shift chef had replaced Hunk. Keith would have liked to use those extra few hours before dinner to surf a bit, but his fatigue had caught up to him and he would rather be well rested for his evening wave catching than wipeout a shit ton of times because he was drowsy from sleepiness.

Lance was changing into one of his wetsuits when Keith walked into their dormitory room. “Where are you heading off to?”

“Catching some waves before dinner.” Lance pulled up the short sleeves of his suit and tugged on the lanyard to zip up the back. “The weather’s great for surfing today.”

“The beach is crowded as hell though. It’ll be hard getting some decent waves with so many people out there.” The sun wasn’t as overbearing later in the afternoon so this was another peak time for the beach.

Keith grabbed his towel and brushed sand off his legs and body and changed out of his uniform to a pair of sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt. Normally he would take the time to shower, but if he was about to get dirty again in a little bit of time, there was no point.

“Yeah. But that’s the point.” Lance’s answering smarmy grin made Keith want to punch him in the face. “Think of all the beach babes that’ll see me. Wanna come with? Your weird emo tendencies will make me look even better.”

“You wish.” Keith snorted, pulling back his covers and sliding in with a soft sigh as he relished the feel of the cool sheets on his body after being out in the sun for so long. He’d take his time surfing after dinner; right now, he just needed to crash. “I’m clearly the better surfer. And the better looking guy too.”

“You versus me surfing battle this weekend. Non-negotiable.” Lance pointed at him with two fingers as he grabbed his shortboard and lugged it under his arm.  “And I’m not even going to touch on the looks, because a) I’m a delicious piece of bootie,” which he accentuated by sticking out his ass and slapping a cheek, “and b) your hair is a fucking _mullet_. You automatically lose, man.”

“Fuck off already,” Keith answered with a laugh, burrowing under his covers and already feeling a wave of sleep hit him hard.

“Burgers at Georgie’s for dinner at 7,” Lance replied as he left their room.

 

…

 

Keith rested his arms on his surfboard, lazily floating in the water of the ocean and watching the sand area to make sure there weren’t any security personnel driving by. He knew most of their routes and patrol times, but that didn’t mean he should be careless. After each wave, he just chilled in the water for a bit, making sure he wasn’t in the direct site of some security guard. The beach and water was lit up enough by the artificial lighting of the hotels that if he could see the muddled silhouettes of people walking on the sand well enough, they could probably see him too.

He preferred surfing at night though, since he had no zone restrictions like during the day, even if it wasn’t technically allowed for anyone to be in the water. The ocean was a little cooler than he would prefer, but nothing he wasn’t used to. And hell, at least it wasn’t like the frigid ass water he’d encountered when he’d gone to Yakutat with his mom a couple years back. Night surfing was heart-pounding and gorgeous: the effervescence of the scenery with the stars and moon shining bright and illuminating the quiet beach, the stronger and bigger waves from the pull of the moon, and best of all, the empty area, so he had the whole place to himself. The risk of possible water predators hunting at night thinking he was food was not a deterrent at all. Keith was a natural risk taker, so the added danger of the water actually spurred him on.

Restless from scouting, he pulled himself back on his belly on his longboard and paddled to rearrange himself as he sensed the water building up a wave.

“Patience yields focus…” Keith muttered to himself, closing his eyes and feeling the way the water pulled him.

He let a few smaller ones past, still waiting for the right wave that would give him a good ride. Shortboards were definitely more manageable and easier for pulling tricks (and showing off, as Lance liked to say), but there was a certain difficulty Keith loved with his longboards. The extra weight and power and level of challenge to execute hard manoeuvres was more fun for him and required more strength, and plus his surfing idol had only ever used a longboard during his career. Call Keith sentimental, but every time he continued to use a longboard and mastered a difficult trick with it, it felt like he’d succeeded in honouring just a little bit more of Shiro’s legacy.

When Keith felt the perfect wave begin to rise underneath him, he matched his paddling speed with the water, his stomach curling in anticipation of the large wave. No matter how many times he had ridden waves of all shapes and sizes in different environments, he would never tire of this feeling. He popped up when it was time, building speed and gliding fast down the face as the wave manifested, and then carved sharply to cut up the face, the rush of the night breeze slapping at his body to throw off his balance and salty water scratching at his eyes and leaking in his nose and mouth, but he wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything in the world.

Keith leaned forward and crouched to pick up more speed, dropping in deep inside the barrel to ride the tube of the wave. It was always his favourite part when he could get it, the wave roaring around him, closing in on him as his space dwindled, the chance of the wave breaking right on him eminent. For a little bit, time slowed down as Keith basked in his little water cage, smiling softly as he leaned back to adjust his speed with the wave and relax in the moment.

He shifted forward when the barrel got too narrow and pulled out of the tube, carved up, hitting the lip to catch air and using his momentum to spur a backflip. He made a full loop and landed flat on the water, gliding along and holding his arms out as he tried to hold his balance as he coasted to a stop. It was almost unbelievable what happened and he stood there with a dropped jaw, wishing he could have gotten that on camera. Keith hopped off his board into the water and pumped his arm in the air, whooping and hollering like some goober, but he’d wiped out on some barrels earlier that week and considered this session a _huge_ success, especially since he’d landed his backflip in near perfect balance. Besides, there was no one there, so he felt perfectly at ease acting like a giant dork.

Or at least, he _thought_ he was alone, but when he’d climbed to sit on his board and catch his breath, he caught the silhouette of a person on the beach standing still and very clearly facing him. Scowling and surprised by the fact that there was someone out there, especially when he’d been making so much noise, he spaced out and missed a smaller wave that broke right on his back until it engulfed him in its arms and knocked him clean off his board, thrown like a rag doll under the water towards the shore. He found his bearings when the water relented and spluttering, he popped out of the water, searching frantically for the figure he’d seen on the sand.

But whoever it was had definitely left by now.

Either way, he made an objective decision to put an early end to his night, seeing as how the resort had strict rules about no one going in the water after hours, and he’d kind of snuck past security and situated himself somewhere he knew had limited routes for the officers.

Confused and spooked, he swam and then ran all the way back to Tiki Cabana where he’d left his stuff in one of the potted plants, wondering if some security guard was suddenly going to blow his whistle and give him a citation for breaking resort policy. It’d be even worse consequences for him since he was an employee.

He procured his phone from his bag as he scrambled to shove on his flip flops and realised he’d missed like ten calls from Pidge. Hunk texted him several times reminding him of the staff meeting, first calmly, then a little more urgent. And then a distinct Lance-sounding text from Hunk that said “ _where tf r u dumbass_?” and then an “ _if ur late, im getting payback_ ”.

Keith checked the time with a frown and cursed when he saw it was 11:03. He had 27 minutes to drop his stuff off in his room, clean up, get changed, and get to the meeting and if he didn’t book it immediately, he was going to be horridly late. Being late to beach crew morning meetings was one thing, but being late to a staff meeting with the boss woman in attendance would get him into serious trouble.

He near sprinted to get back to the dorm, not letting up to catch any breaths until he’d entered the pale golden building and had gotten to his room. He ripped his wetsuit off immediately and flooded himself with freezing cold water in the shower to get the sea smell off of him. He had no time to take a proper shower, and it wasn’t until he was towelling his wet hair while trying to find some unwrinkled black jeans that he remembered Ezor’s remarks about the formality of that night’s meeting. By that point, it was eleven minutes to 11:30, and he really didn’t have time to find a nice top so he grabbed the nice-looking blue button down Lance had left by the window and was out the door in about two minutes.

The run to the meeting hall wasn’t long, but by the time he raced in, he had about a minute left. Hunk waved him over to the table they got, and Keith plopped down onto the saved seat with a tired sigh, running a hand through his wind-swept hair just as Coran climbed up the stage to the podium and began to speak, gesticulating wildly as he was oft to do. The other people at their table—some other beach crew members—stared at him like he was insane.

(To be honest, Keith was really starting to wonder if he was…)

“Aren’t you getting tired of nearly having a heart attack because you’re always late?” Pidge whisper asked, munching on some of the ChexMix that had been offered as a possible snack for all staff members.

“I’m not always late; I’m _nearly_ always late,” he responded flippantly while sifting through the many more texts he’d received in his mad dash to get to the meeting. His mom had left him a message about sending him some money if he needed it, and he made a mental note to call her sometime that week.

“The only way we could cover for you while we waited was saying you were constipated,” Hunk added sheepishly. “Ezor was looking ready to kill someone before you came.”

Pidge shrugged. “To be fair though, most of BC showed up in the last ten minutes before the meeting started. But you definitely cut it close.” That explained why the majority of the beach workers were sitting at tables in the back of the hall.

With a crew like theirs, he wasn’t surprised Ezor had been so pissed.

“You look like a sheep, Keith.” Lance cracked up as he discreetly snapped a pic of Keith’s head. Keith wasn’t surprised. He’d ruffled his hair drying it and hadn’t passed a comb through it, so it was probably sticking up all over the place. Still didn’t stop some of the more forward guests from winking at him and waving flirtatiously as he walked the hotel halls though. “And you smell like salty ocean water. Your clothes are going to smell like shit.”

Keith thanked Pidge when she handed him her emergency hair tie, and he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. “Good thing these aren’t my clothes then, right?”

“Huh…? Hey, wait a minute! Is that _my_ shirt?” Lance hissed as he tried to pull at the clothes. Keith deflected his hands, and they got into a little tiff, slapping each other’s hands away as Lance tried to get his clothes off and Keith fended off his attacks. Lance’s elbow hit the table and caused a heavy clatter of cutlery and a sharp, dangerous look from Ezor nearby had them all piping down immediately to give their full attention to Allura’s moustachioed advisor at the podium.

“Without further ado, I would like to introduce your generous, wonderful, fantastic, intelligent, incredible, marvellous, charismatic, brilliant, sensational, astonishing VP, daughter of Altea’s owner, and the future leader of this resort to say a few announcements! Allura, if you would please.”

There was polite applause as the beautiful daughter of the owner of the resort walked up to the podium after Coran. As usual, she looked radiant, exuded poise, and demanded the respect of the staff.

“My future wifey looks absolutely gorgeous as usual.” Lance sighed dramatically, resting his chin in his hand and making googoo eyes at her.

Their entire table rolled their eyes simultaneously. Lance’s crush was three years running, and he’d made absolutely no advancements in his relationship with her in all that time. It was safe to say he stood no chance with her. And last Keith had heard, he was pretty sure Allura was in a long-term, committed relationship.

“Thank you for your warm welcome, all! And uh, thank you Coran for that uh… _memorable_ introduction. I do apologise for having been absent earlier this week, but I was needed at my family’s estate to attend to personal family matters.” Allura spoke eloquently, using her hands to accentuate her points and engage the audience. Keith would never get used to the warped British accent of her voice though, hybridised as if she’d lived in another country too long and lost its authenticity. “But I am fully committed to this summer and promise I will aid you all to the best of my ability. Please continue to notify me of your grievances and alert me to what you will need in order to make this summer the most successful for you.”

All things considered, Keith thought Allura was a very good boss. He rarely respected authority, but he didn’t mind listening to her and following orders. She was very in-the-know about everything going on at the resort, actually got her hands dirty every once in a while, and always did her staff checks herself to ensure the employees felt cared for and so she could know first-hand how everything was going for the people hired. In addition, she also shared details about her life to her employees so the relationship felt more give and take as opposed to a queen and peasants type of ordeal like most managers tended to do. Allura had such keen business sense and management skills that Keith could easily see why Alfor had chosen her to be the successor for his huge resort. She basically ran the place and well too.

“Now, I’m sure many of you have probably heard about this by now, but I wanted to be the one to announce it to you all.” She paused for dramatic effect, glancing around the room with a huge grin on her face. “We’ve been planning this for several _several_ gruelling months now, but it’s officially official. This summer, in mid-July, _Altea Resort_ will be the host for one of the biggest national surfing competitions: Surf’s Up!”

The reaction was instantaneous. Several faces lit up and people began clapping and shouting in excitement and tittering with their table neighbours about their good fortune. Lance was completely speechless, jaw dropping comically as he and Hunk stared at each other in amazement. Even Keith couldn’t help the widening of his eyes at learning about the event the resort had managed to get.

“Each crew will have a meeting together sometime next week regarding temporary tasks and duties for and during the competition once everything is finalised. A handful of you will be moved to beach crew for that week since they will need the extra help. Now, I know Surf’s Up will take a little more precedence and attention the week of, but I don’t want that to mean we neglect other patrons or forget that we cater to everyone to the best of our abilities to ensure maximum enjoyment.”

Simply put, every summer, surfers from the US came to a designated location to compete on the waves and win cash prizes in a fun little competition. The stakes weren’t altogether that high like world championship tours, but it was still a huge surfing event because it drew huge crowds and attendance from so many surfers all over the country who took the competition as an opportunity to try risky tricks and wild manoeuvres. It was at a Surf’s Up several years ago that then-12 year old Takashi Shirogane first debuted as a competitive pro surfer. A bored, seven year old Keith flipping channels on TV had suddenly been opened to the world of surfing and been blown away by and subsequently fell in love with his smooth, fluid, one-of-a-kind wild style on a longboard.

“Holy shit, _dude_! Did you hear that?!” Lance exclaimed, grabbing hold of his shoulders and shaking him side by side. Keith could only nod slowly, still letting the revelation soak in. The best part of it being held at Altea meant that Keith could actually have a chance to meet some of the most fantastic surfers he’d ever seen before.

It took some time before Allura, Coran, and the other Crew Managers were able to get everyone to fully quiet down for closing remarks and details, and even then, nobody really shut up about the impending competition. It was all too exciting, especially since a lot of their crew and many others at the resort were avid surfers and knew some big names always popped up at Surf’s Up.

When they were finally dismissed, everyone tried to leave at once and it became a huge mess of people all talking, making plans for going out that night, and trying to get out of the main event room.

Hunk twiddled his fingers together. “So… umm, I have to go… um, poop. I’ll meet you back at our suite?”

He didn’t wait for a response before he took off further in the room and Pidge, Keith, and Lance passed each other knowing looks, because the blush on Hunk’s face made it so obvious he was about to go on a secret rendezvous with Shay for a bit. Their whole secret dating thing was not so well kept to some people, but given the intense rivalry between beach and pool crew—especially at the end of the summer crew Olympics, Crewlympics if you will—Keith wasn’t surprised they were trying to keep it hidden lest they be given grief by their crewmates.

“Where do you think they’re making out this time?” Lance asked, goofy grin in place.

“Ten bucks says the laundry room of the hotel,” Keith replied as he scratched at a sore scab on his arm. He must have gotten the cut when he wiped out. “The one where all the bins for dirty towels are placed. It’s secluded and barely anyone goes in there at night.”

Pidge shook her head. “No way. Kitchen. Hotel crew night shifters are doing clean up right now. They’d get caught.”

Lance yawned, stretching his arms high above his head as the joints of his shoulders and elbows popped. “So you guys wanna chill or what?”

“I’m going to bed.” Keith started to say, but Pidge cut him off with a sharp glare.

“You’re not. Keith, go steal some of those bags of Chex and some other snacks,” Pidge delegated, pointing to them each in turn to assign tasks. “Lance, we ran out of napkins and plates and shit, so get a stack. I’ll run to Tiki Cabana and grab that expired ice cream I stashed in one of the fridges. Meet at our suite in the next fifteen minutes and cue up Red Eye since we never finished it.”

“Break!” Lance said, spinning around to get to his task and running right into Rolo, who was staring him down with a raised brow.

“Lance! Just the man I was looking for!” Rolo clapped a hand harshly on his shoulder, smiling through grit teeth and looking as lethal as they all knew he actually was when someone pissed him off. “Where were you for cleaning duty tonight?”

“Huh? I thought Ezor was joking.” The grip on his shoulder turned a little violent—as did the grin—and Lance yelped. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow!”

Rolo shook his head, tsking in faux disdain. “Tomorrow’s not good enough. Try _all_ of next week and the week after that too.”

“Oh c’mon! That’s way too long!” Lance pleaded, looking miserable.

Neither Keith nor Pidge bothered sticking around to hear the rest of Lance’s poor attempts to get a shorter sentence. Keith headed over to the table against the wall where several assortments of snacks were placed. Other people seemed to have the same idea as them since they were all trying to grab cupfuls and whole plates of fruit, chips, and pastries. Keith skipped the bramble of people and went straight for the unopened bags under the table. He grabbed a bag of ChexMix, a box of Cheez-Its, a bag of some blue tortilla corn chips, and then one of Hot Cheeto puffs before people caught on and started ravaging underneath the tables as well.

He figured that was enough chips, but while he was at it, he stuffed a plastic cup with a small handful of those mini cheese and strawberry danishes. He was positive he wouldn’t be waking up on time the next day and a quick premade breakfast would definitely help for his and Lance’s mad dash.

As he squished the last one in his cup and then shoved one in his mouth, Allura approached him, wearing an apologetic smile on her face.

“Keith, could I have a moment of your time, please?”

He turned around in slight confusion, but nodded as he chewed, following her as she moved away from the table to a more secluded area near the wall. The last time they’d spoken in person was about two weeks earlier when she’d checked up on him to see how he was adjusting in beach crew and as a surf instructor.

“I have a new assignment for you. A guest would like to meet early tomorrow morning.” Allura wrung her hands a bit, her lips pursed at the thought of how early and short notice the whole thing was. “I know this is short notice, but I’m telling you because I truly believe you’re the only one who can do this job. It will take up some of your extra time, so work might be a little difficult in addition to this extra job, but I’m only asking you to do this if you’re up for it.”

“Up for teaching a supplementary surfing lesson?” He was kind of confused on what she was asking.

“Yes, a private one. Are you interested?”

“I guess…?” He wasn’t necessarily pleased with this turn of events, but he didn’t feel comfortable disappointing her. She always had too much hope in her eyes. “What time were they hoping for?”

“Six in the morning. They would like to meet in Zone X since there’ll be less of a chance they’ll be discovered.” And this time, Keith couldn’t keep the look of disbelief from overtaking his expression. Allura must have noticed the twist in his expression because she grimaced in apology and patted his shoulder gently. “They’re adamant that no one sees them yet and want to keep this whole surfing lesson thing a secret. It’ll only be about three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Can you take care of them?”

Keith could barely wake up for his normal shifts; how the hell was he supposed to get used to waking up before the ass crack of dawn? Who the hell was this stuck up, snobby, rich bitch who’d requested private lessons from a surf instructor? Especially that early in the morning.

“Did they request me personally?” He was wary of some people. Nobody was that obnoxious outright about hitting on him, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone who might pay money just to badger him like that.

“Not necessarily, but the request was for our best surf instructor.”

Now that definitely didn’t sound right. The other surf instructors at the resort had been surfing for well over 20 years. How the hell could he possibly be considered the best? He wasn’t even a shortboard surfer and only really knew longboard so he was limited to teaching beginners since most people didn’t stick with longboard past their early learning phases.

“No offence, but that’s supposed to be me?” Keith rose a brow incredulously.

She looked amused, chuckling a bit under her breath. “Quite so. I have full faith in your abilities, Keith.”

Keith let out a low, frustrated breath. It sounded like way too much bullshit to him. “I can try to teach this private lesson, but I’m making no promises.”

Especially if it was some super high maintenance, aggravating person.

“Don’t worry, Keith.” She winked. “You have a flair for surfing, remember?”

“Yeah, okay…” he deadpanned with a quirk of a brow. He’d heard that before.

In fact, that was exactly what she’d said when she’d hired him for the surf position last year. She’d seen him surfing on one of his off days and claimed that he had a flair she hadn’t seen in years before smiling some odd smile tinged with a hint of melancholy. Then she’d encouraged him to apply for transfer to beach crew as a lifeguard and surf instructor, and somehow, despite his total lack of surf instruction experience, he’d gotten the job the next summer with no interview. A lifeguard certification and training course was all he’d had to take prior to the start of the summer, but that was about it. Something wasn’t right there, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth?

“Thank you, Keith. I’ve already notified security of you and your student’s clearance to enter the water, so don’t worry about that at all.” Allura smiled kindly before patting him once and heading to her gathering crew managers to discuss weekly resort business.

Keith wanted to find this person and drop kick them into the ground for this. Six am? Whoever this person was had better be important as hell to occupy his time like that.

Lance popped up right after, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What was that all about? You trying to hit on my woman in secret?”

“Ever get tired of being a moron, Lance?”

He ignored him and slung an arm around Keith’s shoulders, tugging him along with the other resort employees as they left the meeting hall. “C’mon. Let’s go take shots! Pidge borrowed some hooch from a pool crew member on our floor yesterday.”

And by borrowed, Keith knew he meant stole.

“How are you not hungover and tired from yesterday?”

Though Keith would never admit it out loud, Lance’s ability to get sloshed and still have enough energy to be… well, _himself_ was astounding. If Keith had that kind of tolerance and not the horrible hangover headaches that accompanied his drunken nights, he’d never stay sober.

“ _Dude_.” Lance gave him a look like he was offended he would even ask as if it was such an obvious answer. He shifted and more or less had Keith trapped in a headlock with his face buried in Lance’s pit. Keith struggled against his side to try to get away. “Frat boy liver.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.”

Then Lance near dragged him out of the hotel to go back to the employee dorms, chanting _Shots! Shots! Shots!_ over and over as other resort staff gave them weird looks. Most had early mornings and it simultaneously awed and unnerved them that Lance could party until the late hours of the night multiple days of the week and still wake up refreshed and energetic for his morning shifts.

As for himself, Keith just knew it would be another awful long night and only hoped that Hunk being a lightweight and Pidge’s usual fatigue early on would save him from being stuck staying up extremely late.

 

…

 

It was by sheer stroke of luck that his body roused him from sleep a few minutes 'til 5. It was early as fuck and the sun hadn’t even come up yet, but somehow, his body had forced him out of the throes of his no longer recognisable dreams and back to his ocean smelling dorm room. It was a good thing too, because when he checked his phone, he realised he’d forgotten to even set an alarm for the morning. On the other side of the room, Lance was grumbling in his sleep, muttering about some missing ice cream he’d left in a freezer and how Luis was apparently a _tonto del culo_ , whatever that meant.

“Shut up, man…” Keith launched a pillow at him and clipped him right on the head, but Lance barely budged when it bounced off, tangling up further in his blanket and instead beginning to snore very loudly.

He sighed, knowing there was no point in trying to go back to sleep even though he’d only really gotten two hours of sleep. Even if he wanted to, his body was hyperaware and alert, still thrumming from the couple shots of honey jack he’d taken when Lance had started up a game of poker. The only reason the game had even ended was because Pidge fell asleep on the table halfway through a round and they’d decided to call it a night.

Keith gathered his belongings and left the room to take a long, hot shower, this time taking the time to properly scrub the ocean from his skin and properly remove dried sand crust from his hair. Part of him thought it was moot, considering he would be getting right back in the water in a little while, but somehow, no matter how far she was, his mother always knew when his hygiene wasn’t up to her standards, and he didn’t want to be badgered about it for days on end.

He got dressed in a wetsuit after much deliberation on how he’d present himself to his new student. Keith preferred to surf without too much on since he actually loved the feeling of the water slapping his skin and soaking him through and through, but this was some pampered guest and he wasn’t in favour of possibly being ogled and stared at while he’d only accepted this position to teach.

Keith tiptoed out of the room with his gear and headed to the little living room and kitchen area to grab something quick to eat. The living room was in complete and total disarray with the residue from the inside of a cigarillo they’d ended up using to roll Pidge’s blunt left on the table, some empty bottles of alcohol littering the floor—which he was surprised hadn’t gotten cleaned up yet considering how much of a neat freak Hunk was at times—take out boxes and cartons on furniture, cards abandoned all over the coffee table, and a pair of Hello Kitty briefs on the floor that Keith was pretty sure were Lance’s.

Hunk was sitting on the living room couch in his pyjamas, tapping a pencil to his chin in thought as he perused some list he’d been writing on his notepad. Only one lamp was lit, casting the room in a comforting, hazy kind of semi-darkness, and Hunk was nursing a cup of tea as he pondered his notes.

“What are you doing up?” Keith asked, shuffling to the pile of shoes haphazardly thrown by the corner of their suite door. He procured his flip flops from the pile and shoved them on his feet. “Thought today was your day off?”

“It is. But to attract more spectators to come to the beach during Surf’s Up, Allura wants me to come up with some new dishes to serve the week of as a short term special. Not an easy task as I’m sure you can imagine.” Hunk glanced up with a weary smile, tapping his notepad with the eraser of his pencil. If Keith didn’t know how much Hunk loved to create new dishes and experiment in the kitchen, this would have seemed like more of a punishment, but still. It seemed a little excessive. “Plus Pidge sleep-fights and axe kicked me in the head…”

Keith laughed, padding across the living room to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Lance had nearly chowed down on all their chips and even the fresh fruit Shay had given to Hunk as a gift so now they were pretty much out.

“Your work ethic after a night of partying never ceases to amaze me.”

Hunk hummed in amusement, pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose and scribbling down some more information on the notepad with enthusiasm. “To be fair, I didn’t smoke and only had half a shot. Why are you up? Can’t sleep?”

Allura had said it was a private lesson and that his student wanted to keep it a secret, so Keith knew it was his duty to keep mum about his new lessons.

“Yeah, something like that,” Keith lied easily, jostling his board a bit under his arms to punctuate his point. He grabbed one of the apples left on their mini kitchen counter and procured the mini danishes he’d hidden at the back of the cupboard above their microwave. Pidge couldn’t reach it and Lance was deathly afraid of bugs, so the cabinet went largely unused and thus was the perfect place for Keith to hide any secret loot. “Thought I’d chill in the ocean for a bit. Maybe catch some waves.”

Hunk set his pad and pencil on the coffee table, leaning back with a loud yawn as he rubbed at his tired eyes. “Impressive commitment. The amount of time you spend surfing, I would have thought you were a professional.”

Keith chewed thoughtfully on a bit of apple, staring at the vastly undrunken leftovers of Pidge’s disgusting cucumber whiskey smoothie monstrosity from Tuesday night. Honestly, his mother had told him on more than one occasion that he could use his skills to enter some local competitions to win some quick cash. And while he was confident in his own abilities to an extent, surfing was just a joyful pastime. Besides, competing felt meaningless if he didn’t get the chance to do it with the one person who’d motivated him enough to start surfing in the first place. It’d always been his dream to compete with Shiro even once in his life, but Shiro’s sudden retirement seven years ago had made Keith lose interest in joining a competitive circuit. He was fine remaining unknown and just honing his skills for fun.

“Hey Keith?” Hunk’s voice drew him out of his thoughts and he turned to him, indicating his attention with a slightly raised brow. “What do you think about a toasted panini with mesquite grilled chicken, fresh arugula, Applewood honey smoked bacon, and rich, melted cheddar cheese topped with my spicy homemade ginger chipotle aioli.”

Keith’s mouth nearly watered at the description, and his stomach grumbled pathetically at the meagre breakfast he was having. “Sign me the fuck up when you need taste testers.”

“You’ll be the first one on my list, then.” Hunk laughed and stood up with a satisfied groan as he stretched his neck by rotating it. He took his glasses off and set them on top of the TV before surveying the damage they’d done to their room earlier that night. “Well, I’m gonna clean this mess up then see if I can get some shut eye what with Pidge trying to re-enact Enter The Dragon on me and all. Anything you want salvaged here before it goes in the trash?”

Keith eyed a box of soggy, old chilly cheese fries with some modicum of desire before he finally decided getting laid out because of some potentially mouldy food was a stupid way to ruin a week of his summer.

“Uh, pass. Maybe next time.”

“Good call.” Hunk got to work and with a quick parting statement, Keith left the dorm to head to the beach.

The air was muggy and kind of sticky, feeling heavy against the parts of his exposed skin, and Keith recognised the weather as one that meant it was going to rain that evening. It sucked because it meant he’d have to postpone his usual surfing evening plans, but on the plus side, on days like this where the beach ended up mostly unoccupied, Rolo and some other guys usually organised some sort of get together at the house that was rented for the beach crew managers. Other crew managers also got rented houses to share, but the BC parties were legendary. Rolo always had the best kush, and one of the other manager’s day job outside of summer was as a bartender, so suffice it to say, the drinks were beyond amazing.

Keith occupied his time while he waited for the sun to rise practicing his basics patiently as always while running through his usual lesson plan to polish it. If this private lesson wasn’t for a total noob, he’d start by asking them to demonstrate some simple techniques and then adjust from there.

The waves were gentle that morning, so Keith only lazily rode some of them, mostly just chilling in the water on his board and kicking his legs back and forth. He was rewarded with an absolutely amazing and beautiful sunrise that peaked shyly over the edge of the water, poking out thin rays as it greeted the world. The sky lightened up, spreading into a beautiful cerulean, orange over the clouds. Keith couldn’t help the smile on his face as he watched the sky dance with colour in the early morning.

Who could ask for a more beautiful sight in a more beautiful environment?

By the time the sky had turned fully blue, his watch warned him that he was about seven minutes past the start time of his appointment, and Keith paddled towards the shore until his feet could touch the sand at the bottom. The gentle tide rocked him back and forth, pushing him a bit further west than his original location, so he had to put in a little bit more work, but he didn’t mind it.

Keith walked out of the ocean with a content sigh, awkwardly manoeuvring his board as he tied his flopping hair out of his face into a small ponytail at the back of his head. It nearly reached the bottom of his neck, and if it was getting this long, it was probably time for another haircut. Maybe he’d ask Acxa. He used to work with her in restaurant crew, and she was the only other person he knew who could handle a blade. Wasn’t the same thing as a razor or scissors, but he figured it was close enough. He wasn’t interested in paying for a quick trim, anyway.

There was a man standing near Keith’s stuff as he crunched across the sand. His back was facing Keith, and he checked something on his wrist every once in a while. A niggling feeling in the back of Keith’s mind wondered why he seemed a little familiar, but he disregarded it as a possible guest he’d seen in the resort and hadn’t properly noticed.

“Hey,” Keith said, bending over to unlatch his surfboard’s leash from his ankle. He wasn’t giving the guy his undivided attention and sure it was a little rude, but Keith was still miffed about the whole 6 am lessons. The guy had clearly been lost in thought because he jumped a bit when Keith spoke. “Are you here for surf instructions or something?”

“Yeah. I’m assuming you’re Keith Kogane?” the man asked in a nice, mellow voice that was deep, but not too deep, and Keith saw his feet turn around to face him. Something about his voice was a little familiar, though Keith couldn’t quite place it. “Allura told me you’d be my instructor.”

Keith straightened up. “The one and… only…”

And promptly choked on the rest of his sentence as he saw just who was standing directly in front of him.

Takashi Shirogane.

 _The_ Takashi Shirogane.


End file.
